Peanut Butter Fish
by MaidenMoonshine
Summary: Abby remembers a long-ago day at the beach. Gibbs remembers too. Part of the One Year of Posting Celebration.


**Hi, everyone! I hope that you have been enjoying the other stories through the day! After this story, there will be one more story for the day. But for now, I hope that you enjoy this little one-shot that I dreamed up at some point. **

**If you've missed what's happened so far, here's the list of the stories in the order they were posted: "Mother" (NCIS:Los Angeles); "Exes and Ohs" (NCIS); the next chapter in "The Finding of Cable" (Bull); "Small Fish in A Big Tank" (NCIS: Los Angeles); the next chapter in "Echoes" (NCIS). Now there is this story and one more. :) Oh, this is fun! **

**I would like to dedicate this story to KrisShannon and fiftyshadeswritergal who have both edited and encouraged me over the last year. I wish for both of you many creative dreams and lots of time to write them down! God bless you two amazing people! **

**And now, please enjoy! **

**...**

"So, Abs, what've you got for me?" Gibbs asked, shaking the Caf-Pow! at her to gain her attention. The pony tails flipped as she jumped up from her lab chair. She tried to grab the treat but he held it away. "As always, work first," he scolded, but he was smiling. So was she.

"Guess what that purple goo all over our drowned sailor was?"

"No need to guess - that's why I have you," he said, enjoying how her eyes brightened at the praise. Somehow, despite working on some of the worst cases the country had to offer, Abby retained her childlike innocence and delight in all that was good. She adored being praised, and he enjoyed praising her. It was a mutually satisfying relationship. Especially when he had a reward and she had the information that he needed for a case.

"Jellyfish!" she stated excitedly. "Gibbs, he was covered in jellyfish bits! I just read an article last night about that recent huge storm tossing a lot of jellyfish up on the beaches and throwing them off of their normal courses. I saved it. I looked up the beach where he was found - there are practically never jellyfish around there, making it a great beach for families with young kids and ..."

"Abs."

"Okay, Gibbs, I'll focus. But can't I have my Caf-Pow! now?"

"Nope."

"Fine. Anyway, there was no way that all that jellyfish stuff got onto him at the beach since you didn't find any dead ones around him. I don't know a lot about jellyfish, Gibbs, but I bet that if you contacted the writer of the article they would be able to give you some more information. If we're lucky, maybe they'll even know where he might have been in contact with so many jellyfish. As I said, I don't know if it will work, but maybe!"

"Do better than ..."

"But I can't do better than maybe this time, Gibbs!"

"Okay," he relented, handing her the coveted treat. She slurped as he turned to leave, but then she called after him.

"Hey, Gibbs! Who is a jellyfish's best friend?"

"What?" he asked, confused by the sudden question rather than replying. But Abby dashed ahead with her joke.

"A peanut butter fish!" she giggled.

Gibbs narrowed his eyes thoughtfully as he looked toward her without really seeing her.

_Where have I heard that before?_

"Sorry, Gibbs," Abby giggled. "I know it's not that funny, but this kid I played with on a beach one summer when I was around six - she and I came up with that joke while making jellyfish soup. We took our shovels and scooped all the jellyfish into a bucket and pretended that we were making jelly soup, before eventually putting the jellyfish back in the ocean - hopefully before we killed them..."

Abby continued her story but Gibbs was only half listening. He was remembering a day long ago.

...

Kelly had been seven that summer. He had taken the family on vacation, finally home from deployment long enough so that he could actually treat his girls to the summer of their dreams. Shannon had researched multiple places before finally settling on this one spot. It had everything - fishing, safe tides for swimming, even horse riding on the beach. They rented a cabin and headed out for two weeks as a happy family.

He could remember a day when they had come across a family - mother, father, girl, boy. It was quickly obvious that the parents were deaf as all of them were signing. It was also equally as obvious that the little girl was stubborn. Gibbs could not understand sign language but it was clear that the mother and daughter were arguing about what seemed to be going into the water and the little pigtailed girl was not big on respect at the moment. The argument was only settled when the father swatted the little girl's bottom and made her sit on a towel under a sun umbrella for time out. Her loud sobs were heard across half the beach. Some older couples moved away - the little boy's whoops of delight as he created sandcastles - obviously not sharing his sister's desire to go "deep in the water" - coupled with the tantrum-throwing little girl were the _slightest_ bit disruptive.

"Are you sure that you want to set up here?" Gibbs had questioned Shannon when she set their blankets down and told Kelly she could start playing.

"Look, Kelly will be just as noisy as those two. At least they are parents - they won't mind if she gets a little wild. Plus, this is a great spot for swimming."

"But do we really want Kelly playing with a bratty kid?" he asked in a low voice. Shannon rolled her eyes and laughed.

"You're gone a lot of the time, Jethro, so you only see your sweet angel princess, even when she does have to be disciplined. Trust me, she has her bratty days too - mostly when you're deployed! That girl is just having a meltdown moment and the parents are dealing with it. I'm sure she's a good kid. Her brother is behaving. I'm certain that she's fine too once she calms down."

"I guess," Gibbs admitted, although he slightly disagreed. Even though he occasionally needed to spank Kelly and she could be difficult, she was NOT bratty! Not like that little girl looking at them through tear-filled eyes as she kicked her legs against the towel while her father gave her threatening looks.

Shannon took out the sunscreen and began applying it to her arms. "Besides, those folks look so tired. Maybe Kelly and the kids can play together and they can relax a bit."

Sure enough, Kelly was looking over their beach neighbours eagerly.

"Daddy, that girl is sad!"

"I know. She'll be fine."

"Why's she crying?"

"She's being a ..." Shannons's warning look stopped him and he finished with "...upset. She's upset."

"I want to play with her."

"When she's allowed to go play, maybe you can make some sandcastles with her," Shannon suggested, taking the wriggling girl and beginning to rub on the sunscreen.

Indeed, the little girl was allowed out of time out and almost immediately she and Kelly met in the neutral ground between their family's picnic blankets. Within minutes they were making sandcastles, playing princess and "thietist", which was a combination of "scientist" and a significant lisp due to two missing front teeth.

"Daddy, can we go in the water now? I'm hot!" Kelly announced dramatically after an hour in the sand. The scowl that came over her new friend's face was unavoidable.

"What's the matter, darling?" Shannon asked. It was then that Gibbs noticed that there was a lot more disappointment and sadness in that frown than rebellious anger. It was worth listening to her answer.

"My momma and daddy don't know how to thwim, tho I can't go in the wather."

"Oh, sweetie, I can see why you are sad, but I'm certain that your parents are just watching out for your safety," Shannon replied wisely. She exchanged a glance with Gibbs and he headed over. One written conversation in the sand later and he and Shannon had the parents relieved blessing to take their little one into the water. The little boy, who seemed to be around four or five, shook his head wildly at their offer to take him along. That left him and Shannon, Kelly and "Scientist", headed out into the small waves. Gibbs tried to teach the two how to float in the water and they caught on quickly, intermittently standing up to run in the waves and splash one another.

After swimming until their short attention spans required new amusement, Kelly and Scientist headed off to shovel jellyfish into buckets before dumping them into the water under Gibbs' supervision. Aside from a slight sting on his leg after they dumped the jellyfish too close to him in the water, the whole day went well, ending only when the two mothers began to exclaim in their language of choice how late supper was going to be and how cranky the children would be if bedtime was delayed. As the tide began to recede, the girls left after exchanging huge hugs and a few last whispered jokes and giggles, the parents waved good-bye, and the little boy cried as he was buckled back into the car.

"What was your friend's name?" Gibbs asked as they drove back, coming out of his musing that he should really add sign language to his wheelhouse of knowledge.

"Scientist," Kelly said proudly with no doubt as to her friend's choice handle. "And, Daddy, we made a joke! Want to hear it?"

"Sure, princess."

"Who is a jellyfish's best friend?"

"Who?"

"A peanut butter fish!"

They had chuckled at the nonsensical joke so typical of carefree children, then driven back to the cottage as they sky took on a muted blue with the beginning pink and orange stripes of sunset.

...

Abby was still telling her story when Gibbs shook himself free of the memory and refocused on her.

"You know, I never learned that girl's true name - she called me Scientist and I called her Princess - but that was one of the best days of my childhood, despite the fact that I was a self-admitted brat at the beginning by throwing a temper tantrum when I couldn't go in the water. That family took the time to communicate with my parents and included me in swimming when my parents had a phobia of the water. Funny too, because we still went to the beach every summer, since they liked the breeze and Luca and I liked the sand. Finally I learned how to swim - they decided that was important for me to learn after they saw how much I enjoyed that day - and I swam every year after that, but I'll never forget that first time. It was the only time we ever went to that particular beach, but it remained my favourite. I wonder whatever happened to 'Princess'. I hope that she was always happy."

Gibbs felt his throat constrict a little. He silenced Abby with a gentle kiss to her forehead.

"I ... think she was," he croaked, giving her a second kiss before rushing out of the room.

Maybe someday he would tell Abby that he knew who that other little girl was on that day so long ago - he could not do it now with the recovered memory so fresh. Maybe it would always remain a little secret. But that second kiss had not really been for the scientist - it had been in memory of a sweet peanut-butter-and-jellyfish princess.

...

**Please review! And now who is ready for a hint about the final story? Do I hear anyone saying "me!"?! Let me see ... does anyone like stories of the team as children? I LOVE stories like that. Hmm, I wonder if I happened to find the time to write up a chapter to see if people liked the idea (with the potential of turning it into a full chapter once NaNoWriMo is over)? I guess we'll just have to wait an hour or so and see! **


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